NOVEMBER 17^th 2013. THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

What a consoling homily this is for the people of the Philippines! In all of your tribulations, the Lord is with you! Whatever might have happened, the Lord will not cease to lead you towards himself! The material order has become undone, but God is holding a deeper and more beautiful reality together. God bless the Philippines in this dark hour!

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GOSPEL                   Luke 21:5-19

When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, 'All these things you are staring at now-the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed'. And they put to him this question: 'Master,' they said 'when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?'

'Take care not to be deceived,' he said 'because many will come using my name and saying, "I am he" and, "The time is near at hand". Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.' Then he said to them, 'Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

'But before all this happens, men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name - and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In this forbidding text Jesus speaks of wars, plagues and disasters. His real message is that the material order is transitory and will unravel for each one of us sooner or later. We construct our lives on things that seem trustworthy and secure. We long for the glory of this world and we base our lives on elements that seem sturdy and admirable. But the “cement” that holds together the various building blocks of our world will one day dissolve and everything will become undone for each one of us. That much is guaranteed! When that day comes, Jesus exhorts us to maintain our direction in life. How do we maintain our direction in life? We maintain our direction in life only if we have not given ourselves over to the priorities of the material order of things. We maintain our direction in life if we follow Jesus only and seek to discern the will of God in the unfolding events around us. We maintain our direction in life if we entrust ourselves to divine providence instead of to our own capacities and talents. For someone who has entrusted themselves to divine providence, great tribulations can be borne with serenity. They realize that God will bring good out of this terrible situation, even if his purpose seems unintelligible right now. But for those of us who do not have a correct sense of the will of God at work in everything, even the most minor inconvenience can lead to crisis.

People were admiring the beauty of the material order of things. Jesus points out that this material order is held together by a human “cement” that will not last

At first sight this passage appears very foreboding. Jesus speaks of wars and revolutions, kingdoms fighting against kingdoms, earthquakes and terrifying events. But what is the context for this discourse? Some people were commenting on the beauty of the Temple and its fine stonework. At the time, in fact, the Temple of Jerusalem was one of the wonders of the world. The archaeological evidence that still exists today points to a building of spectacular dimensions. In response to these admiring comments Jesus says that the time will come when the things that they are seeing now will all be destroyed. The word used in the Greek of Luke’s Gospel for “seeing” is “theoreo.” This means “to behold a spectacle”. Significantly, the same verb is used by Luke when the people who witness the crucifixion walk away afterwards beating their breasts. Everyone gazes in amazement at the spectacle of the Temple, but the real spectacle that they will soon behold is that of the crucified Jesus.

How we overrate the glory of this world! How often in the past have we become agitated by things that seem trivial now!

Jesus says, “All these things you are staring at now - the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.” What does this saying mean? The phrase “stone on stone” evokes the idea of construction. And the term “destroyed” in the Greek is rendered by a word that means “to undo”, “to loosen”, “to dissolve”. The things that we build will all be undone in the future. The various “cements” that we use to fix things together will one day cease to function. What a terrible prospect! Why does Jesus say this? We are at the thirty-third Sunday of the year and Advent is almost upon us. It is time to reflect on the ultimate end of things. Things have connections between them, but we overrate the significance of these worldly connections. How often the glory of this world seems so permanent and trustworthy! How often things in life seem definitive and important but then the passage of time shows them to be purely transitory! How many times in the past have we become mentally and physically agitated by things that we barely even remember now! A little reflection, in fact, shows that Jesus’ announcement in this Gospel passage is profoundly true! He is asking us to refrain from giving things an importance and a significance that they do not possess. The things that are eternal are eternal, whilst the things that are not eternal simply are not. How often we confuse these two levels with each other!

Great tribulations can be coped with if we maintain our direction in life. But if we do not maintain our focus in life, even the most minor tribulation can lead to crisis.

The fundamental statement in this passage is the expression “Take care not to be deceived”. What an important statement this is! The Greek text literally means “Do not lose your sense of direction and go astray”. It is vital that we do not lose the proper sense of things. It is crucial that we maintain a sense of proper discernment with regard to worldly things. When there are earthquakes, plagues and wars – when there is any sort of tribulation in life – there is always the great danger of losing our sense of direction. The danger of losing our sense of direction is graver than the danger posed by the tribulation itself. In itself any tribulation can be coped with if we maintain our direction in life. But if we do not have a direction in life than even the most minor tribulation can become unbearable. Sometimes we are unable to put up with a minor queue or a delay of five minutes. Other times, we can bear severe difficulties  because they are directed towards a particular purpose. We can climb a mountain willingly, despite the sacrifices and discomfort that it involves, because we value the goal of scaling that particular peak. But then I become angry and frustrated with a red light that lasts too long, or a queue that is slow in moving. The fact is that we are unable to live through minor tribulations if we have lost a sense of the real connections that exists between things in life. How many times have we seen people who bear the greatest sufferings with serenity, whilst we ourselves are incapable of the most minor inconveniences because we do not know where we are going. Conversely, sometimes we disparage things as being useless that later turn out to be of the greatest significance.

If we are attentive to the will of God in our lives then we will have direction in life and we will be able to cope with any tribulation

Looking back at our past lives we can discern many times when we had completely misunderstood the authentic sense of things, the real connections between things. When we look back now we see that the real order of things was not in the blocks that we were trying to build one on top of another. The real order was the plan of God unfolding in things that we had resisted or misinterpreted completely. If we do not discover the will of God in things, then it is not necessary to experience earthquakes, plagues or wars to find ourselves in deep water. Even the most minor inconvenience can lead to crisis. But if we have the will of God in our hearts, then we will not ricochet around with a lack of direction. We will know that life is a gift that is firmly in the hands of God. It is not the case though that the plan of God is always intelligible to us. Often it transcends our power to comprehend. We must accept that some of the things that life presents to us now are not easy to understand. We must allow ourselves to be led by the Lord, trusting that there is a good reason why God has ordered things to unfold as they do.

We have a proper direction in life if we follow Jesus and only him

There are a series of negations in this passage. Jesus says not to follow those who say, “I am he. The time is close at hand.” This saying is perfectly compatible with Jesus’ exhortation that we not lose our direction in life. If we are to keep our proper direction in life then we must follow the Lord Jesus only. We obey our superiors in the Church because by doing so we follow God. We do not obey our superiors just for the sake of obedience to them in themselves. It is in God that we trust and for this reason we follow the pastors that have been set over us. Otherwise our ecclesial construction is simply stone upon stone that has no wider significance. You are I are simple poor people. It is to God that obedience is ultimately due. Let us follow him, and him only.

A rule for life that will prepare you for every tribulation: Entrust yourself to divine providence, not to your own capacities

Jesus’ second negation is “Do not be alarmed.” (or “Do not be frightened” in the English translation). An alarm is a warning sound or symbol that gives rise to a state of emergency. Jesus warns us not to overvalue particular situations that can sometimes lead us into states of distress. Then he expresses his third negation: “Do not prepare your defence.” This is a veritable rule for life! Either we entrust ourselves to divine providence or we entrust ourselves to our own intelligence. Human intelligence is a remarkable thing, and we have a duty to exercise it prudently. But everything else must come secondary to our relationship with God. The Lord will bring good out of every situation and there is no need for me to defend myself anxiously. The English translation says “Keep this carefully in mind,” but the Greek text says “Fix this in your hearts!” What we must keep in our hearts is the conviction that it is the Lord who is guiding our lives! The end of things in him is secure. Whatever might happen to us, our lives will be preserved by the Lord.